Blood and Water
by Dai-sanTangmus
Summary: They say that blood is thicker than water... but obviously, the person who said that never had to make the choice himself. Rated T to be safe, explination inside. Chapter nine FINALLY up! Rawr!
1. Prologue Pt 1

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much for reading my fanfic. I hope you like it, but if you don't (and don't have any constructive criticism), please, please leave me alone. –hides face and whimpers- Anyway! I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. –cries for loss of Edward… even though I didn't have him in the first place- So enjoy!

**Editor's Note and Summary of Actual Story:** So keep in mind, these first two 'chapters' are simply prologues. The story itself takes place about seventeen years later, so it's not what you're probably thinking it is right now—it's full of original characters galore and plenty of those old favorites that you know and love. So if you're going to give this story a chance—at least read up till chapter three; that's when the real story begins.

Thank you,

Dai-san and Editor Rin

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Bella was staring at the shiny silver Volvo that sat with its engine running in the driveway. Charlie had left early this morning, with no more than a dirty dish in the sink left behind. It had been a very emotional night for Bella, and it probably hadn't been very easy for Charlie, either. All night he had spent comforting his sobbing daughter, but he'd never even known why she was crying. "He probably didn't want to deal with me again," Bella thought bitterly with a slight smile. Her eyes were still red and puffy from her episode, which had lasted until the early morning when she had fallen into a fitful sleep; although that sleep had offered no rest.

A sudden chill ran through her and put the real world into focus. Edward was waiting for her, and had been waiting for the last few minutes, but all she could do was continue to stare. "He's going to hate me," she thought with a lump rising in her throat. "He's going to hate me." She could just barely see the outline of his beautiful face through the mist that had gathered on the car's windshield. Bella took a deep breath to calm herself, but only succeeded in bringing a new wave of tears.

Angrily, she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "He loves me," she told herself, trying to contradict her earlier thoughts. "He'll believe me." With another deep breath she pushed her way through the front door. The cold hit her instantly, stinging her eyes and causing her to flush. It hadn't rained for about a week now, but it had snowed every day relentlessly. Bella pulled her jacket closer to her and hurried down the walkway towards Edward's car. Struggling to compose herself, she slipped into the seat next to Edward.

She was suddenly warm again as she moved herself in front of the vent that was heating her side of the car. Her whole body was still shaking, but she knew it wasn't because of the weather outside. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Edward, but purposely tried not to look at his face. He was wearing a black turtleneck that gave his skin an ivory look in contrast. Reluctantly she made herself look at his face. It was perfect, as always, but he was frowning. His beautiful butterscotch eyes were searching her face for any sign of what was wrong with her; even though he couldn't read her mind, he knew something was troubling her.

Bella stared at him for a brief moment before she finally broke down. She was sobbing again, and she hated herself for it. _Why couldn't I be strong for once?_ she thought. _Why couldn't I just tell him?_

A cold touch met her cheek as Edward placed his hand on her face. His eyes were now filled with worry as he looked at her. "Bella," he asked in a soft, calm voice. "Bella, what's wrong? Look at me."

Involuntarily she met his gaze. Every part of her just wanted to get out of the car right now, but she knew she couldn't. "Edward," she whispered, looking back down," do you love me?"

Surprised, Edward pulled his hand away from her cheek. "What?" he asked, unable to mask his worry. "Bella, of course I love you. I've always…"

"Why?" Bella cut in. Tears were falling again, but she didn't try to hide them this time. "Why?" she asked again, looking at his face for an answer.

Edward just stared at her with unblinking eyes, unsure of what to say. Slowly he slipped his arms around her and held her close to him. There was no stopping her tears now, so she just clung to him and started sobbing. And for the first time in a week, it started to pour.

Neither of them moved as Bella continued to cry, and neither of them had any intention of doing so yet. "Edward," Bella whispered by his year.

"Yes, Bella?"

She swallowed hard as she prepared to tell him. _It'll be okay,_ she tried to convince herself. "Edward," she repeated, "I'm pregnant."

Edward's grip tightened, but then suddenly released. He pulled away from Bella and stared at her with a betrayed and confused look. In a panic, Bella blurted out, "Edward, I'm so sorry. Please, don't hate me. You're the only person I've ever been with. I don't know how it happened… but it did. Please believe me, please…" Her voice trailed off and she looked back at Edward, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Please," she whispered again.

Edward looked at her then, still shocked at what he'd heard. "Are…" he faltered. "Are you sure?"

Bella just nodded her head, unsure of how he'd react now. In another attempt to explain herself she started, "I know it's imposs—"

Edward cut her off. "Bella," he said sternly, "I'm over 100 years old. Don't tell me what's impossible or not."

Bella looked back down at her lap, trying not to cry again. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. In one fluid movement, Edward backed out of the driveway and started down the road, opposite the way of the school. "Where…" she began, but then stopped, not wanting to upset him.

"Bella," Edward said softly, "you asked me before if I loved you, and my answer hasn't changed. I love you, Bella. That's why we have to leave. If the Volturi found out…" Edward looked down and began speaking in a lower tone. "I have to protect you, Bella. Please, Bella, let me protect you. If you don't want to leave, I understand. You have Charlie and Renee—"

This time it was Bella who cut him off. "Edward," she said with a slight smile and a new trail of tears, "I love you too."


	2. Prologue Pt 2

**Note**: Hello! Thanks for reading this, and much love to the reviewers. I know that the summary really has nothing to do with the story so far, but I promise it will make sense soon. Love to Min, the dragon-lady editor (please don't hit me) who keeps me writing. She's also the one who corrects my atrocious spelling and grammar, and types for me. Without her, this story cannot be. Please review!

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Edward was waiting impatiently in the small lobby of the Salem County Community Hospital. The last eight and a half months had been rough as they constantly moved from place to place, trying to avoid the public eye and their abandoned families. On the car ride out of Forks, both of them had come to terms with what they were leaving behind, and what affect their leaving would have on the ones left. Edward had insisted that his family was left out of it, but he had often urged Bella to at least call her parents. Bella had remained stubborn, and refused to contact Charlie and Renee at all. Although Edward didn't see why she was so reluctant, he grudgingly respected her decision.

A loud noise distracted Edward from his thoughts momentarily; but, after attributing the noise to a flustered nurse who had, apparently, dropped an armful of new bedpans while she had been trying to glance inconspicuously at Edward as she walked past a mirror at the nurses' station, he tried to calm his nerves again.

Edward had changed a lot during his time with Bella. He now found himself slightly paranoid as he constantly stood alerted for any possible threat towards her. Whenever he had to go hunting, he was constantly plagued with visions of her demise, but had always come home to find her save and sound.

A slightly plump and matronly nurse emerged from Bella's room and walked towards Edward, nervously, he rose from his chair, but before he got a chance to say anything the nurse started speaking. "Mr. Cullen," she asked in a slightly annoyed tone, "are you sure that you don't want to be in here with us?"

Edward looked worriedly at her, already moving towards the door. "Why? Does Bella need me?"

The nurse pursed her lips and set her face. "No," she said tartly. "Your girlfriend told me to tell you that she was fine, and if you were even thinking of coming in, I was to remind you that there is probably going to be a lot of blood, and she didn't need you fainting in there."

Catching the hint, Edward stepped away from the door and whispered, "Oh." Trying to ignore the thoughts of the nurse, which basically consisted of, _"It's hard to believe that the fear of blood will keep fathers out of the room. Of course, he is so young that he probably doesn't even realize what's going on in there. Why, in my day...," _Edward waited for the inevitable continuation of their conversation.

"Well," said the nurse, narrowing her eyes, "I just thought you might want to come in anyway, seeing that you're about to become a _father_ and all. But I can see your mind's made up, so I'll just be on my way." With a final angry glance at him, and a few more nasty thoughts, the nurse turned and walked back into the room.

Slowly, Edward went back to his over-sterilized seat and sat down. A war of logic and love was constantly raging in his head. Every time he looked at Bella, he felt an overwhelming need to be with her, and to protect her. But oftentimes, when they had gone to doctor appointments, he had mixed feelings. The first time he had heard the baby's strong heartbeat he had been elated, but a nagging voice in the back of his head had reminded him that no child of his could have a heart beat.

Edward looked away and cursed himself; he knew Bella wasn't lying to him and that she loved him. How could he doubt her like this? Was it really so impossible to believe in this child?

Right then, he thought of himself as the most loathsome creature in existence, and he hated himself for it.

Resting his head against the cold hospital wall behind him, Edward focused in on the thoughts of the people in the room. The excitement emanating from the unfamiliar minds hit him in a shocking way. He could tell the doctor was encouraging Bella, and he caught the words "very soon" coming from his thoughts, although he was excluding these words from what Edward had perceived as the panicking Bella. So desperately did he want to be by her side, but he wasn't sure if he could handle it. It had been almost a week since he had last hunted, and he would not permit himself to put Bella in any unnecessary danger. Another nurse's thoughts interrupted his own then; apparently, this was her first birth and she was very nervously excited.

For the next hour and a half, Edward waited impatiently through the mounting excitement and tension. At one point he found himself about to break the flimsy arm of the chair, and had forced himself to stand up. As the anticipation finally reached its pinnacle, Edward was clutching the door frame and holding his breath. And then, relief came all at once. Letting out a long breath of air, Edward slid to the floor—it was over. Still shaking, he waited for the cry.

It may have only been a few moments, but it was the matronly nurse who was the first one to notice a problem. "Doctor," Edward heard her call, alarmed, "the child won't breathe."

Almost immediately, pandemonium ensued. A new wave of panic hit Edward as he listened to all their frightened thoughts, trying to figure out what was the problem. He ran at the door, but the matronly nurse was already standing there. "Sir," she pleaded, blocking the doorway. "You can't go in there right now."

Edward shot her an angry glare, and made to push past her. "And why not?" he growled.

Taking a step back, the nurse stared at him with wide eyes. "Well, s-sir," she stuttered, "the doctors are moving your child to the ICU temporarily. The baby had a little trouble with his breathing, but I assure you that our doctors are taking care of him as we speak. They'll probably just need to put the baby on oxygen until he's breathing on his own; there's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Edward yelled angrily. "My baby's not breathing, and you're telling me it's okay?"

Edward stepped menacingly towards the nurse, but a small voice distracted him. "Edward," it called wearily.

His face changed to a look of concern as he pushed lightly past the terrified nurse. Bella laid on the bed in the dead center of the empty room, the doctors already gone with the child. Quietly Edward slid up to Bella and took her hand. Bella looked up at him with a slightly dazed look. As sweaty and hyped-up on morphine as she was, she was beautiful. "Yes, Bella?" Edward cooed softly as he knelt by her bedside.

Turning her head towards him she slurred, "What happened? They didn't even get the chance to tell me it was a girl."

Smiling sweetly, Edward leaned in. "And if it was a boy?"

Glaring, Bella replied tartly, "Well, I'm sure you already know, so tell me."

Shaking his head, Edward sighed. "It was a boy, Bella. I'm sorry," he added sarcastically.

"Oh," she whispered, and then turned her head. "Dammit."

"What?" he asked, still keeping up his smile. "Is a boy such a bad thing?"

For a moment, Bella just stared at him, studying his face. "What happened?" she asked again, crinkling her eyebrows.

A look of solemnity passed over his face, and he looked down. "Bella," he said quietly. "There was a problem after the baby was born. The doctors said that he was having trouble breathing. They had to give him oxygen, but the nurse said he'd be fine." It was sickening how easily the line had slipped off his tongue, the same line he had been yelling at the nurse for using, but he had to keep her calm.

Obviously the lie had comforted Bella, because immediately afterward she laid her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes. "Edward," she sighed, succumbing to the drugs, "don't you know that vampires don't need to breathe?"

Edward was taken aback for a second, but then he just shook his head and laughed quietly. When he looked back at Bella, she was deep in her drug-induced sleep. After staring at her for awhile longer, he gracefully stood up and turned to stare at the still scared nurse. Smiling charmingly, Edward walked towards her. "Ma'am?" he asked politely. "I'd really like to see my boy now. Is there any way that's possible?"

The nurse stared back at him and stepped towards the door. "Yes, sir," she gasped. "I'll ask the doctors right away." Quickly, the nurse made her exit, not even looking at the door behind Edward that would have been the faster route. Smiling, Edward sat down and waited.

It hadn't taken the nurse more than two minutes to rush back. Her round face was red and her once neatly kept bun of gray hair was lying deservedly in her face. "Come, sir," she demanded politely, regaining some of her former attitude. "They say you can see him."

The walk down the hallway was torture for Edward; every few feet he passed the same light blue doors set in a plastery white wall. He could have easily made it to the ICU by now, but he was stuck behind Miss Social, who stopped every few seconds to chat quickly to someone. About halfway down the hallway, Edward realized his nervousness had given away to annoyance, and a scowl had set upon his face.

After what had seemed like an eternity (which was an especially long time for him), they reached the doorway. Stepping to the side, the nurse pushed open the door for him.

The first thing Edward heard was the faint beep from the heart monitor. A young nurse was hovering over the plastic box that encased his child. Smiling, the nurse turned to him, still blocking the boy from view. "Are you the father?" she asked, brushing her hair behind her shoulder.

Edward hesitated, and then nodded. Turning back around, the nurse started messing with the box. "I really shouldn't do this," she said uncertainly, "but I think he's strong enough that you could hold him." All Edward could do was nod and step forward. Still smiling, the nurse warned him sarcastically, "Be careful though; he's a biter. I've never met a newborn with such sharp teeth—or any teeth at all, really… He actually drew blood! Well, you'd better hold out your arms, and I'll hand him to you."

Trying not to shake, he held out his arms. He could barely tell when she set him in his arms, he was so tiny, so fragile. The boy gazed up at him with dark green eyes, reaching towards him with his small hands. Edward could feel the child's heartbeat pulsing strongly; it took him awhile to realize the child had stopped breathing again, but the boy didn't fuss at all.

"What's his name?" the nurse asked, leaning over Edward's shoulder.

Edward stared down at his child. There was no other explanation—how could he love something so quickly and so intensely? His former logical arguments made no sense now; how could he have ever doubted this? "I think," Edward smiled, moving the baby closer, "we'll call him Alexander."

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**Final Notes:** Damn that Edward, who didn't even ask Bella what she wanted to name their son. –sigh- Alas, one cannot be angered by perfection for long. Please, I implore you, review. Parting is such sweet sorrow… 


	3. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Okay, I dedicate this chapter to Min, who literally beat me with her seven-pound biology book until I started writing. Without her, this chapter may have never been. As always, thanks to my lovely reviewers who give this story the fuel on which it thrives. For all the other anonymous numbers on the hit counter—if you want to be a part of that awesome metaphor, speak up and review.

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**Chapter One—Not a Prologue!**

Trees went speeding by the window in a dizzying multicolored blur. Bella reached up and absentmindedly brushed her hair away from her eyes, a small smile set upon her lips. Faint memories of the surrounding woods from her childhood drifted languidly across her mind; relaxing her muscles, she closed her eyes and listened to the world around her. Every time she closed her eyes, the things she heard became even more astonishing.

It had been over sixteen years since Bella had become a vampire, but everything still seemed so new to her. The one thing she hadn't counted on was retaining all of her memories so clearly. After remembering how most of the Cullens had lost their human memories, she had written herself a letter a few days before the set transformation date, to remind her of her life so far, including her love toward Edward and, of course, Alexander. Even though her old memories were important to her, she would have traded them in a second for her new ones.

She glanced up into the rear-view mirror which gave her a perfect view into the backseat. Stifling a laugh, she turned around to get a better look. Somehow, Alexander had managed to tangle himself up in his seatbelt as he'd tried to stretch across the backseat. His right arm was tangled by his side and his left arm lay across his eyes. A disheveled mop of bronze hair was pressed against the door and his feet were pushed up against the opposite side. Even though he looked extremely uncomfortable, he was fast asleep. Smiling, Bella reached back and squeezed his hand. "Zander," she whispered softly. Grudgingly, he pulled his arm away from his face, uncovering his startlingly green eyes.

It always surprised Bella how much he had turned out like Edward—in looks, anyway. He had a pale, soft face with occasional dark shadows under his eyes. And in reality, he was just a little shorter than Edward, but he still managed to seem taller. "Mom," he said in a slightly irritable, but still melodious voice, "I only need to sleep once a month. It's bad enough I have to do it in the back of one of Dad's cramped little sports cars. At least let me do it in peace, okay?" Disgruntled, Zander tried to turn towards the front seat, but only managed to twist his arm. Cursing, he pulled at the seatbelt until he finally just gave up and settled back into his former position.

"Zander," Bella repeated in a harsher tone. "Zander, wake up. We're here."

Raising up his head slightly, he glanced through the window and groaned. Letting his head fall back down he mumbled, "All I see is trees. We can't possibly be in Forks yet."

Bella just smiled and turned back around to face the road. Yes, she remembered similar feelings of teenage angst, but he'd have to get used to it, just like she had. Unfortunately for him, he'd have no vampire boyfriend to fall back on. Seeming to know she was thinking about him, Edward reached over from the driver's side and took her hand. The ghosts of chills ran through her immediately, but now there was no heartbeat to betray her. Slowly, she turned his hand over, palm side up. Her fingers lightly traced his lifeline, which, ironically, was rather short. Raising up his hand, Edward caressed her cheek softly. Another moan emanated from the back seat, ruining the mood. Smirking, Edward glanced back. "I thought you were asleep."

Sitting up and pulling at his seatbelt, Zander muttered sarcastically, "What's the point? It's obvious that I can't leave you kids alone together. Being the older brother, I'll need to keep my eye on you two."

Edward replied coolly, "And who said you get to be the older brother?"

"Well," Alexander said matter-of-factly, "I'm way past the age that I can pass off as your teenage love-child, so the truth is out. I can't really pass off as your little brother, either—because, honestly, Dad, I look older than you do. The only logical choice is to let me be the oldest."

"Alexander," Edward answered in a fatherly tone, "you forget that your mother and I are going to be keeping an extremely low profile while we're here. As far as the town's concerned, you're an only child. If you weren't so set on going to high school, you wouldn't exist either. And, by the way, you do not look older than me." With a dejected look on his face, Alexander leaned back against the seat and fixed his gaze on the window that was now beginning to show streaks of rain.

Bella looked back over the seat at Alexander. She hated how he always seemed to look like he thought he was out of place. He didn't fit in with humans, he didn't fit in with vampires, and he was always alone. That was her greatest fear, she thought, him being alone. Her parents must have worried about that at one point; she'd never gone on dates, or had many good friends, but she'd always thought they were just being overprotective. Now she knew what it was like to be a parent, she knew it was a very powerful feeling. That was the reason she was coming back to Forks after all these years—she was going to tell her mother and father everything. It had probably been torture for her parents, not knowing where she was, if she was okay, or even if she was alive. The Cullens had probably caught hell for it as well; knowing that Edward had gone missing as well, her parents would have put two and two together. There had probably been massive repercussions for everyone left behind, but she hadn't had a second thought about leaving. She knew she had been selfish, but now she really wanted to make things right again. Although she was so set on doing this, Edward was unsure. It was really a 50/50 chance whether or not he would contact the Cullens, but she was almost certain he would find them.

"Pull over," Alexander demanded suddenly. Edward quickly guided the car over to the side of the deserted highway. Swiftly, Zander unbuckled his belt and shot through the door. His left arm finally pulled free of its bindings, but it still managed to make him stumble onto his knees as he tried to escape the car. As his lunch made its reappearance, both of them were at his side.

"Honey," Bella asked, concerned, "are you okay?"

Without answering, he just leaned back and pulled his legs out front. Dark, odorless blood seeped out from the newly acquired holes in his jeans. With his fingers, he spread out the blood to get a better look at his knees. Sighing, he whispered in a hoarse voice, "It's already healed. No need to worry, Mom."

Kneeling next to him, Edward put a hand on his shoulder. "What would we do with you if you couldn't heal yourself, huh, kid? Now," he added with a slightly more serious tone, "how's your stomach?"

Groaning, Zander stood up and then staggered. His father reached up protectively to catch his son if he fell. "I think I was just in the car too long," he finally replied after regaining his balance. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to walk around for awhile."

"But it's raining," protested Bella frantically. "The house is only another twenty minutes away. You really shouldn't do this if you're sick."

"Well," he answered, taking a few steps forward, "if it's that close, I could do the walk pretty easy. The house is north, right? So I'll be able to cut through the woods, which will cut down on the rain."

Bella shot a glance at Edward. Sighing, he also protested, "Alexander, you don't really have the best record when it comes to directions. And you can't deny that you tend to be a little clumsy sometimes. Besides, you don't know what could be in the woods."

"Alright," their son said, turning to face them, "if you find my dead body in the woods tomorrow, you were right. If I make it home safe, then I was right. Deal? I really don't think I could make it another three minutes in the car, so I'll take my chances in the woods."

"Edward," Bella pleaded.

Shaking his head, he sighed. "Sorry, Bella, there's nothing I can do. He takes after a certain stubborn mother of his. I know when to give up."

Sending his mother a reassuring smile, Zander turned towards the woods. "Don't worry, Mom, I'll be fine. Trust me."

As she watched her boy disappear into the forest, all Bella could think of was all the horrific possible outcomes of the excursion. Finally, Edward led her into the car and they went off to await his arrival at their new home.

.. Major scene change! La Push Reserve ..

Raechel Uley pressed her ear against the council room door. Using every ounce of her acute hearing, she tried to figure out what the big meeting was about. After several long moments of trying to decipher quiet mumbles, he father's voice rang out clearly. "I don't think you realize the gravity of this situation," he protested loudly. "If, in fact, the Cullens are back in town, what are we going to do about it?"

Another voice, this time an unfamiliar one, interjected, "Sam, calm down. Mitch said he only saw the bronze haired one—Edward, I believe he's called. As long as they don't come near the reservation there should be no problem."

Raechel could hear her father breathing heavily, trying to control his temper (she only knew this from personal experience, after having ticked him off so many times before). "Still," she heard him say through clenched teeth, "we need to be prepared for anything."

A familiar and welcome voice cut in then. "You know," Jacob said, "it would be a good chance to break in the new werewolves. The Cullens aren't violent, and the newbies need experience." Raechel's heartbeat quickened, and a blush went across her cheeks. Yeah, she was sixteen and he was in his early thirties, but every girl had to have an irrational crush at her age. Besides the fact that Jacob was cute, he always seemed to stand up for her. She knew that when he said newbie werewolves, he meant her too, something her father would never acknowledge.

"Well," Sam said thoughtfully, "Jason, Rich, and Chris would benefit from this." Her stomach dropped. Of course she wasn't included.

A rush of anger washed over her as the council members began to vacate the room. She needed to get out of there, clear her head. Angrily, she rushed out of the door and towards the woods.

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More thanks to Courtney, my favorite werepire. Again—thanks to Min. Please review, and you can be included in next week's lovely reviewer's metaphor (we'll work really hard on that one). 


	4. Chapter 2

I know you're out there. And you know you're out there. I know you're out there because if you weren't, you wouldn't be reading this. You know you're out there because if you weren't, you'd be in here. And you're not. So now you have to review. Get it, got it, good. This week's metaphor is more realistic. "You are the hidden chocolate in my backpack that I eat in biology to keep me awake." There you go; you know the deal.

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A light mist was falling from the trees and onto Alexander. Absentmindedly, he pulled his arms against his chest in an attempt to warm himself. His hands were icy as he held his arms and his breaths were a wispy cloud hanging in front of his face. The world around him seemed inverted and somehow alienated, as if he were in a different world. His foot brushed against something large and bulky. Startled, he took a few ungraceful steps backward and fell awkwardly down. Sitting up, he glared at the cumbersome object—which was actually only a moss-covered log. He sighed, and allowed himself to fall back onto the questionably squishy earth and placed his hands on his forehead. In heavy contrast to his hands, his brow was extremely warm. Closing his eyes, he relaxed and allowed his own forehead to warm his hands.

He was obviously sick, but it didn't worry him too much. Actually, he'd never had a sickness last for more than three hours before (it was when he was six and had a nasty bought of the chicken pox. He vaguely remembered being extremely itchy). Yay for super immune systems.

Slipping slowly into a semi-conscious state, he opened his mind to all of the sounds and smells around him. This foreign world seemed strangely peaceful and welcoming, as though it was trying to drag him deeper into the heart of its odd existence. Creepy. Struggling upwards against unusually strong gravity and even heavier eyelids, Zander propped himself up and looked around. The mist had condensed into a thick fog, but it only lingered around his feet—obscuring his vision of the ground. The forest seemed dead, no noises or movement to shatter the fragile illusion of the wood. He took a step backwards, and looked around clumsily for any sign of light. Everything blurred for a moment when he lifted his head. He swung his arms out awkwardly, and he managed to keep himself from cracking his head on the same accursed log he had tripped over earlier.

The one side effect of his super immune system? A whole week's cold would hit him all at once, trying to pack all of its torture into an hour. Damn that super immune system.

A sudden flash of movement caught his attention. Raising his head, slower this time, his eyes fixed on a small bird. It was the same brown color as the tree and had perched on top of a tall branch, but that was about all he could see before it flew quickly away. He was about to start walking again, but then stopped. He'd just had an epiphany. It was a delirious epiphany brought on by a bird, but it was an epiphany none the less.

Gripping a branch on a nearby tree, he pulled himself up. He'd lost a lot of strength, but he'd still be able to make it at least 20 feet. Sure, he'd most likely fall to his death, but if he succeeded, he'd be able to see his house. North, south, east, and west made no sense to him right now, so this really was his only hope (unless, of course, his dad had come to save him. But he was too proud to admit he couldn't get home on his own). As carefully as he could, he made his way up the moss-covered tree. Nearing the top, he rested for a moment on one of the stronger branches—which were becoming exceedingly harder to find.

A flutter of motion behind him made him turn his head. There was the bird—the same, one-and-only epiphany-giving bird. Cocking its head, the bird hopped slightly closer. Reaching out with his left hand, he gently coaxed the bird closer. Uncertainly, the bird hopped back towards the end of the branch. Determined to show the bird thanks (no, that's not crazy at all) he stretched out his arm, leaning further off the branch. Surprisingly, the inevitable happened: his arms flailed out wildly in a futile attempt to catch himself, but he only managed to grab air.

Branches went flying past him as he fell towards the ground. It seemed to take forever to finally land. The forest floor softened the blow slightly, but he did hear some snaps that he knew weren't branches. Unconsciousness quickly enveloped him, but he did manage one last thought. _Stupid bird.

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Raechel was running—no, sprinting through the dense forest. The mist was adding to her tears, but, as long as no one could see her, she needed to cry. Her feet were no longer visible, but she wasn't too worried about falling. Right then she was so angry at her father that nothing else mattered. Her mom would understand, but then her dad would say something like, "Now Emily. If I let her go out there, she'll get hurt. She's way too _impulsive_." Lashing out, she struck a tree hard with the palm of her hand. The bark crushed weakly under her fist, but the age-old tree barely shuddered.

Wiping her eyes, she looked around her. Tall trees surrounded her completely; that in itself was familiar, but the smells around her made her wonder if she was still in the reserve's woods. _Great_, she thought, kicking a stone lightly. _I was too _impulsive_ and got myself lost._ Sitting down dejectedly, she hung her head. This was exactly why Sam didn't trust her.

She raised her head and looked back around to find any landmark that could help her. But before she even stood up, something caught her interest: it was a smell. Not just any smell, but a strange and unfamiliar one. Standing, she sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint it. Its sweet, but almost dangerous quality attracted her. She knew curiosity killed the cat—but luckily, she was a dog.

Following the scent didn't take her much time. As she grew closer to the source the fragrance cut through the other scents of the forest. Her head was lifted towards the canopy in an attempt to see something, anything. Suddenly, she fell hard against the ground. Cursing, she rolled over, ready to punish whatever she had tripped over.

What she saw shocked her. It was an unconscious boy. His skin was pale and his face perfect, like some European supermodel. But his messy auburn hair shot that idea down. Leaning towards him, she examined him closely. All of a sudden an idea struck her: _could he be the source of the smell?_ Bringing her face dangerously close to his flawless cheek, she gently sniffed him. Yep—it was him.

Closing her eyes, she smiled softly. Everything was good right now. There was a hot, non-supermodel, good-smelling guy in front of her, and her dad was nowhere in sight. Everything was good until, "Are you sniffing me?"

She shot back quickly and clumsily. Her cheeks were already flushing as she stared back at his open, green eyes. His eyebrows crinkled slightly as he stared at her with a very confused look. After a long—and uncomfortable—moment of staring at each other, the boy turned his head and looked away. Slowly, he sat up and looked around.

Completely mortified, Raechel stood up quickly and started walking away. That was way too embarrassing; her only chance was to walk away and hope he didn't remember her when he was getting his hair done in Paris or Athens or wherever he went.

"Wait!" he called out.

His voice was silky and tantalizing. With one word, he was able to make her catch her breath. Turning, she tried to make the blush in her cheeks fade and she stuttered, "W-what?"

Stumbling up, the boy ran towards her clumsily. Uncertainly, she took a step away. He stopped, realizing he was scaring her. A childish, crooked smile appeared upon his face as he stepped back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Glaring, but still blushing, she turned her head. "You didn't startle me. You just…"

He took another step towards her, slower this time, and looked at her pleadingly. "Nonetheless, I know I made you uncomfortable and I apologize."

Her chest tightened slightly as she took another step back. "It's okay." Why did she feel like she was being hunted?

Another look passed across his face, as though he felt bad about something. "Sorry," he whispered again, sincerely this time, then mumbled something about being hungry. When he raised his head again, he flashed her sad, puppy-dog eyes. "I'm lost. Any help would be great."

Sighing, and not feeling threatened anymore, she stepped forward. "To be honest, I don't know these woods very well. I live in the La Push reservation."

Hanging his head, he sighed, "Oh." Quickly rising again with a smile, he walked to her side. "So," he said enthusiastically, "we're both lost."

She stared bewilderedly at him and replied, "No… as long as I can get back into the woods _I'm_ not lost."

"…Oh."

"Do you know where you live?" she asked, trying to be helpful.

"No. I just moved here so I'm literally, utterly, and completely lost."

"…Oh."

"…Yeah."

"…Do you have a cell phone?"

"…Not with me."

"…Oh."

She stared at him for a moment, and then sighed. Suddenly becoming defensive, she scowled. "You promise you're not a creepy stalker?"

Smiling reassuringly, he answered, "I promise. But that's probably what a creepy stalker would say anyway."

Shaking her head, she turned. "Well, come on."

Following, he became quiet for a moment, then asked, "Where are we going?"

"Back to the reservation. You can call for help from there."

"Thanks. I really appreciate this, you know."

"Yeah, whatever. Just trying to help."

* * *

Yeah, I know it was short. Yeah, I know the dialogue kinda sucked. The next chapter will be better, and probably a lot longer… Does anyone see a conflict coming on???

Remember to look forward to next week's METAPHOR!!! I promise it'll be bigger and better if you _comment_!!!!!


	5. Chapter 3

**Author's Note and a Refreshed Disclaimer:** Short chappy, but you gotta love the fluff. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! But all of the reviews in the world cannot change one fact—I still don't own anything to do with Twilight. All I've got is Zander, but I'm okay with that. How's that for a disclaimer?

The metaphor of the week: You are the catnip inside my kitty's mousey that causes her to keep running.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The first part of the walk out of the forest was done in silence—well, what with the exception of the time Zander fell over a branch and swore. They had been walking for quite awhile, but neither of them could think of anything to say. Glancing at her with what he hoped to be an inconspicuous look, he studied her. She had long, black hair that gently framed her firm, but beautiful, face. Her skin was tanned, and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown. A small smile appeared on his lips as he stared intently at her perfect neck that led to her shoulders. Completely preoccupied, which was a dangerous state of mind for him, it didn't take long before he, once again, went crashing to the ground.

Zander jumped up and brushed himself off, hoping—no, _praying_—that she hadn't noticed. After shaking his head quickly in an attempt to free his hair of any forest floor debris, he looked over at her.

The girl was just staring at him, solemn-faced and rigid. A smile lightly tugged at the corner of her lips, but she was able to restrain her laughter. "Well," she said, sounding as if the laugh was winning the fight, "I guess I know why I found you on the ground when we first met."

Zander smirked in an attempt to regain his cool. "You know, you shouldn't make fun of the terminally clumsy."

Leaning against a nearby tree for support, the girl started laughing. Even though her outward appearance seemed tough, her laugh was light and melodious. "Besides," he said, stepping towards her, "when you met me, I'd just fallen out of a tree, not tripped over a branch."

Wiping traces of tears from the corners of her eyes, she managed to choke out, "Now why—although I'm kind of afraid to ask—why were you up in a tree?"

Well," he answered, taking on the tone of someone who knew what they were talking about, "it is a well-known fact that those diagnosed with terminal clumsiness are often stricken with mild ihavenoideawherethehelliam disorder, leaving them completely helpless in the face of directions. I was merely trying to figure out where I was going."

"That may be the most idiotic thing I have ever heard."

"Why thank you."

"I'm sure only you would take that as a compliment."

"You don't even know me."

"Well then, tell me who you are."

"I'm Zander."

"I'm Raechel."

A new silence overtook them as they stared at each other. As if, now that their names had been said, an unknown barrier had been broken, Zander uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck, and started walking again, but the girl stopped him. "Where are you going?"

He turned and looked at her blankly. "We were going this way, right?"

"…You really are directionally challenged."

"Did you ever doubt?"

Smiling, Raechel grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. "C'mon."

After a few moments of walking, she dropped his arm and stopped abruptly. Putting on a sheepish smile, Zander joked, "I promise it's not contagious. It's all hereditary, I swear." Raechel shot him an angry glare before stepping in front of him protectively. Craning his neck, he tried to see what had caused the sudden change. A tall man was standing in what seemed to be the entrance of another clearing. He couldn't see the man's face, but Zander thought he could hear a low growl.

"Raechel," the man barked, "step away from that… that _thing_."

Slightly taken aback at being called a thing, Zander started to protest, but Raechel held up her hand to stop him. "Jacob," she said, slowly backing up to Zander. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" the man apparently called Jacob roared. "You tell me to calm down! Do you even know what he is?"

With no answer, she turned to Zander for an explanation. His face had gone stern, and his eyes bored into Jacob. If this guy knew what he was, there could be a lot of complications, and Raechel didn't need to get tangled up in them. Yeah, he'd only known her for a few hours, but she'd actually laughed at his jokes; a girl like that didn't deserve to die. He stared back at Raechel and put on a weak smile. "Hey," he said, trying to use his most convincing and soft tone, "why don't you leave me behind? I'll be fine."

"No," Jacob growled. "She deserves to know what you are, Cullen."

"Cullen?" he mused. The name meant nothing to him, but it seemed to make the man ahead of him get angrier as he said it. Taking three long strides, the man pushed past Raechel and towered over Zander.

After only a second, the man's face switched from anger to confusion. "You're…" he voiced in a barely perceptible whisper. "… You're not him."

"Not who?"

With an almost pained look, he answered, "Edward. Edward Cullen."

Uh oh, now there was a name he knew; time to shut up. Something must have tipped Jacob off about what had gone through his mind, because almost immediately Jacob had grabbed him off his feet and started yelling at him. "Do you know him? What about Bella? Is she alright?"

But before Zander could answer any of these questions (well, lie, anyway), Raechel had decided to intervene. "Jacob!" she yelled, putting herself between the two of them. "Jacob, please stop it!"

Something about her made the man start to calm down. "Raechel," he pleaded in a worried tone, "go home."

"No! I will not go home until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Rae, he's dangerous—please, just listen to me."

Startling both of the men, she just started laughing. "Him? Dangerous? Come on Jacob, you can't be serious. That guy could hardly keep from killing himself!"

"Can't I just go home now?" Zander pleaded weakly.

The man's face turned stern, and then he forcibly dragged Zander forward. "No. Hasn't anyone in your _cult_ warned you about werewolves?"

Almost at once, Zander's face went pale and Raechel's peals of laughter were put to an abrupt halt. "Jacob!" she almost shrieked.

"Oh," Jacob added, turning partially toward her. "You wanted to see a bloodsucker, right? Well, guess what? You were being hunted by one."

Zander tried to utter a word of protest, but Jacob's forceful yanking made it hard for him to catch his breath. He could vaguely see Raechel with her mouth hanging open behind him. Desperately, he tried to pull away, but to no avail. He was going to die now. Not only were his parents right, but they were really going to find his dead body laying in the woods tomorrow. All seemed hopeless—until the man let go of him. Zander, surprised but grateful, turned to walk away, but then caught a glimpse of what had made Jacob stop.

"Mom?"

* * *

Keep reviewing please! I dedicate this chapter to my cat, but I owe the fact that this chapter is up at all to the wonderful editor Min. PS. I so made my deadline. 


	6. Chapter 4

**AN: **I love you, reviewers! You're so nice to me! Allow me to bask in the warm glow of your compliments. Ahhh… But wait, a shadow of a doubt… What if my oncoming chapters disappoint you? Noooo!!! Please put my fears to rest, or confirm them, if you feel so inclined. (This is my best attempt at begging for reviews—how sad.) Now on to the metaphor (which I'm pretty sure no one gets, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside)! _You are the marshmallows in my hot chocolate._ 'Nuff said.

* * *

**Chapter 4—Rewind**

Bella stared blankly out the window as the rain pounded harshly against the surrounding area, as if trying to wash away all traces of the outside world—including her son. The thought instantly gave her chills—well, the kind of chills only a vampire could get. Strong arms slowly wrapped around her waist, pulling her gently back into Edward's intoxicating embrace. "Bella," he whispered lightly in her ear, gently skimming his god-like lips against the soft curve of her neck, "why are you worrying so much about him?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but then realized she had stopped breathing (something that was required for speaking). After taking a moment to recollect herself, she managed to stutter, "I thought you couldn't read my mind."

Chuckling slightly, he kissed the top of her head. "That doesn't mean I can't tell what you're thinking. Now why are you worrying?"

Pulling away sharply, she turned and started unleashing her panic on poor, unprotected Edward. "What if something has happened to him? You know how disoriented he can get sometimes. We should have never let him out there on his own!"

Her sudden outburst didn't seem to faze him, and he bravely took her back into his arms. "Bella, just take a deep breath." She tried to protest, but his grip was relentless until she took a gasp of air. "There. Don't you feel better now?" The spite in her gaze must have been enough of an answer, because he reluctantly relinquished her body and moved across the room. Running a hand through his perfectly disheveled hair in a rather exasperated manner, he said, "I'm not going to say I'm not worried about him, but I do trust him." Edward locked his striking gold eyes with hers. "But I also trust you. If you want to go rescue him, I won't stop you. Just don't ask me to go along with it. You, of all people, know that we're on thin ice."

That was definitely true; it was no secret that Zander and Edward were having problems, but she didn't want to dwell on it. Tenderly, and with a certain touch of remorse, she kissed him. "Thank you," she breathed softly, and then went dashing out the door and into the familiar Forks rain.

* * *

It didn't take long for her to locate her son's distinct scent, which often reminded her of crayons and play-dough. Ahh, the good old days—she missed them so. After walking for awhile, Bella found herself becoming slightly apprehensive. What was that feeling?—it was strangely familiar, but oddly foreboding. Only one word came to her mind, but that one word carried so much power. _Werewolves_. She had passed into La Push territory, and every part of her existence as a vampire told her to leave—but the part of her that was a mother pushed her frantically forward.

Tearing through the underbrush, every sense acutely alert, she searched the woods. A sudden noise sent her running toward the source. Yes—it was Zander. There was her son, lying on the ground with a werewolf standing over him. A sudden anger seized her as she prepared to protect her son, but something stopped her. The werewolf wasn't attacking Zander; it was laughing at him. For the first time, Bella realized what was going on: the werewolf was a girl; she seemed to have no intention of harming Zander, and, from what Bella could see, she was actually flirting with him. Uh oh. This was really bad—really, really bad.

Bella was at a loss. If the girl was no threat, as she believed, then Zander was safe—unless he encountered the others in La Push. He had no experience with werewolves, and had no way to protect himself if things got out of hand. Being a half-vampire, he had no control over his powers, an attribute that had caused many problems when he was younger. Once, when he was six, he'd called them in the middle of the night from Chicago—apparently, he had been "sleep running." The whole rest of the year, Edward had kept a careful watch on Zander every time he needed to sleep.

It hadn't been too long ago that the two of them had been very close. She remembered a time when her son was constantly attached to Edward—they were always playing some game or another. Only recently had the problems begun. They argued on almost every topic, but that was just a vent for the real problem—Zander's humanity, or lack thereof.

Bella clutched the tree as she gazed at the two of them. They were closer, but otherwise unharmed. Then a sudden thought came to her: how much did they like each other? For all she knew, this had been going on for quite some time. Could they have another distorted Romeo and Juliet story going? But this one could be slightly more dangerous…

Another voice suddenly entered the clearing, but instead of kind, this one was harsh and threatening. Cautiously she looked up. A man was standing there; he was tall and muscular, but the most shocking thing about him was his face. There was nothing especially different about him, except the familiarity. The man spoke again, grasping her son roughly. She would have attacked by now, if she hadn't recognized his voice. It was all becoming clearer now—he was older, but he was still Jacob.

Jacob, the lovesick boy she had left behind, the friend that had been there even when Edward wasn't. If she had thought things were complicated before, they were thoroughly screwed up now.

A small pain hit her where her beating heart had been, and she was filled with a feeling of remorse. She'd truly missed Jacob, although she couldn't know how he remembered her. How would he react when he realized she'd become a vampire, thus breaking the treaty and betraying him? Why? Why did it have to be Jacob here?

Bella stared worriedly as Jacob grabbed her son roughly. He'd never been particularly violent, but she didn't know how he'd changed in the past years. Would he be willing to help them once he found out who Zander was, or would he hate them for it? Why should he help them? She'd abandoned him, along with everyone else in Forks, everyone else in her life.

She clutched a branch weakly and started moving down towards the edge of the clearing. Her mind was made up: the whole reason she'd come back to Forks was to give an explanation, and Jacob deserved one almost more than anyone. Although she didn't know how he'd act, she knew she'd hurt him, and she knew she couldn't allow him to hurt Zander.

Tactfully, she positioned herself in front of them and waited for Jacob to notice her, which didn't take long. A look of confusion and hurt set upon his face as he gazed upon her for the first time in many years. She couldn't quite read his face, but he dropped Zander's arm without losing his gaze. His deep brown eyes studied her, but Zander just started moving away. Her whole attention was set on Jacob, but then Zander stole the stage by uttering, "Mom?"

* * *

**End Author's Note: **Wow! Two chapters with the same cliff-hanger! I bet you guys hate me. But I promise the next chapter will actually resolve this, and will be longer. But I'm not updating next week, so you'll have to wait for it. This is all my friend kyo-obsessedru2's fault so go flame her story Ghost of my Past. I dedicate this chappy to Courtney because she told me to. See you in two weeks.

**Side-note from Editor Rin:** …Don't listen to her. Don't go flame kyo-obsessedru2's story.


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Hey guys. I've suffered a tragedy since I've last written to you. I'm sorry to report that my notebook has literally fallen apart. Whether it was a product of faulty glue or manufacturing, the end result was a loss of over half the pages that had once been. As of now, I am still writing in it, but it could crash at any moment. -sniff- But there may be hope. I've been told that if a large amount of reviews come in, Richard (yes, he has a name) may have a chance. : )

…Now I've turned to guilting you into reviews. Hey, whatever works. Metaphor at bottom!

**Editor Note real quick:** AGHHHH!!!!!!! -screams in excitement- I could finally upload this!!!! Both Dai-san and I apologize deeply for the horridly long time you all had to wait for this update (and Dai-san would like you to know that it was not _her_ fault, but for some reason, the uploady thingie was NOT WORKING FOR ME--but it's up now! And the next chapter shall most certainly be posted on Thursday night/Friday morning, yayy!! Now please, enjoy! -bows deeply-

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**Chapter Five**

"Mom?"

Bella shot Zander a warning glance, but her son just continued to gape. Jacob's face, once set in shock, had transformed into a mixture of confusion and an emotion she couldn't quite identify. Zander had started babbling, trying to cover his blunder, but Jacob never took his gaze from her. "Bella?" he whispered softly, his eyes widened slightly.

A knot formed in her chest as she stared at the Jacob she had once known. A young and familiar wild spark sprung to life in the depth of his eyes, and a smile almost appeared on his face, but then he tensed and his gaze hardened. Taking a step backward, he leaned forward and hissed, "What are you doing here?" His hand struck out and grabbed Zander harshly by the collar. "You should go if you know what's good for you."

"Jacob," Bella pleaded, her eyes wide and set on her son.

"No."

That "no" had carried a lot of meaning in it. It meant no, I will not give back this boy who you're obviously worried about; no, I will not fall for your lies again; and no, I will never forgive you.

Bella watched, frozen in place, as Jacob attempted to drag her writing son away. In less than a second she had snapped out of it and had placed herself in front of them. "Jacob." Her tone had become darker and more threatening. "Leave him here and I'll take him. He had no idea about all this, and that's my fault."

"Bella," he growled, "you, of all people, should know the rules. And to make it worse, I found him out here with _her_."

"Don't blame him for being out here with me! He was lost and I told him he could use the phone at home."

Everyone else in the clearing stared at Raechel; Bella silently praised her, and she saw Zander smile, but it only made Jacob angrier. "You could have been killed, Raechel!" The girl stepped back uncertainly, acting like a child who'd just gotten their hand slapped.

"Hey!"

Bella watched nervously as Zander protested and pushed away from Jacob. "You've got no right to say I would have killed her. I mean, I had every opportunity to kill her, but I didn't. That has to count for something."

"Zander, please, you're not helping the situation."

Jacob's eyes snapped back to her. "Who is he to you, Bella? He looks like a Cullen, but I was under the impression that none of you leeches were related."

An uncomfortable silence set in among them, and none of them could seem to break it. In a fit of rage, Jacob yanked Zander forward again. Awkwardly, her son lurched forward and skidded onto the ground. Blood slowly seeped out of his knee, where the whole in his jeans had been torn from earlier. Bella quickly stopped her breath and knelt beside him. The girl, or Raechel, had stayed in place, but her heartbeat had quickened slightly. Jacob, who still held onto Zander's arm, lurched back, dragging Zander slightly farther, but then threw him backward. "Blood?" he sputtered, stumbling even farther back, but his shock didn't last long. In a flash he had grabbed Raechel and torn off into the forest.

Zander's eyes never left the girl, but when she disappeared, he hung his head. "Well," he said, pulling himself up, "I hope you realize that, even though you had to come and save me, I survived coming out here alone. For the most part, I mean."

Bella chuckled slightly, and pulled him up. "Yes, honey, you're not dead—but, as you said, I did have to save you. And do you know what that means?"

"No."

"Oh yes."

"Please."

"No. Besides, it will take less time."

"You know I hate it."

"You loved it when you were little."

"Yeah, well… That was a long time ago."

"Not for a vampire."

"Well… damn. You win."

"C'mon."

Bella took his hand and started running. It may have taken him a second, but soon Zander was sprinting in step beside her. He'd always hated that he needed help running—well, consciously running—but she knew he still enjoyed it. It wasn't long before he had a big smile to accompany his windswept hair.

Too soon, they were standing in the yard of their new home. The dark green lawn was fenced with tall evergreens. There was a wraparound oak porch that surrounded the perfect white house that seemed to shout inconspicuous or conformity. The wide front windows were blanketed heavily by curtains. All of this formed a perfect barrier to suspicious eyes, and seemed awfully unreal. To complete the illusion, Edward was standing in the light drizzle, perfectly composed and silent.

Zander hung his head and became unnaturally quiet as he drifted past his father. Bella stared unblinkingly at Edward until their son was inside. "What happened?" he pressed in a slightly restrained voice. "Why did it take you so long?"

She shifted her gaze nervously. He really did have good reason to worry; it should have only taken her a minute, but it ended up being more like forty-five. The only thing that kept her from answering immediately was the concern that Edward might overreact a little.

"Edward," she said, "first you have to promise me something."

"Yes?"

"Promise that you'll remain calm."

"Would I have a reason not to remain calm?" he countered.

It took her awhile to reply, but she couldn't decide whether or not to tell him the whole truth. With a sigh, she decided to tell a _censored_ version of their exploits, which really only consisted of, "Zander got lost and wandered into the reserve, but no one got hurt. We're both alright now. I've already lectured him about the werewolves, and he promised he wouldn't go over there ever again. Okay?"

Edward stared at her for a moment, as if testing if he waited long enough, she would begin telling him the rest of the story. Finally, shaking his head, he started to walk inside. "I need to speak with him."

Much to her protests, he continued to Zander's new room. He knocked sharply and simultaneously opened the door. Their son was caught off-guard, but he quickly regained himself. "You might want to think about giving me a little more time to answer next time," he shot at his father, glaring defiantly.

This didn't seem to faze Edward much, because the next second he was sitting on a chair that had been propped against the bare wall. "We need to talk."

"About?"

"Your mom told me what happened."

Before Bella could enlighten her son about "what happened," he had already blurted out, "Well, it's not like the werewolves hurt us or anything."

Edward's eyes flashed angrily at Bella. Standing up, he towered over Zander. "What werewolves?"

This caused Zander to blanch, but he still stared at his father. His mouth was clamped shut, unwilling to divulge anymore information. Edward then turned to Bella and repeated scornfully, "What werewolves?"

* * *

Well there you go. My next chappy will be posted next week. As for the metaphor, I've decided to do one for the anonymous hit counter numbers. _You are like fresh footprints in the snow outside my house, and they really_ could be_ a psychotic murderer from the insane asylum down the street or a secret admirer with chocolate._ Which one are you? Remember Richard and please review. 


	8. Chapter 6

**Editor Note: **I truly am so very, very sorry. –bows- The late post was entirely my fault. On Thursday night, I had an unholy amount of homework and had no chance to post—and Friday night, I didn't get home until past eleven. But this chapter's not as late as the last one!

**Author's Note**: Hi! Sorry you weren't happy with the last chappy's length, but this one's longer! Richard has survived another week (yay!), but keep those reviews coming. Once again, sorry for the delay last week. Min the Editor's computer would not upload the story. So instead of Friday morning, it updated Sunday. On to the metaphor! (Dun dun DUN!) Your reviews are my addiction. You make me happy, then I suffer withdrawal until I update. Fanfiction is my drug of choice! Woot!!

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**Chapter Six**

"What werewolves?"

Zander slowly looked at his mom, who looked just as much at a loss of what to say as he was. No one spoke for awhile, but a sudden anger had started to well up inside him. It wasn't his fault he'd been out there; they had told him that it was okay to be. Granted, nobody could have predicted that he would have gone so far off-course, but it really wasn't a secret that he tended to get lost.

Inside, Zander knew that he was being slightly childish about the thing he was about to do. Opening old wounds would make things worse, but the angsty teenager inside of him urged it to say it, just to make his father a little angrier. Before his mature side could interfere, he allowed the words to slide off his tongue, mixing as much coldness and spite into his voice as he could. "You know," he shot at his father, "all this wouldn't be such a problem if you'd turn me into a full vampire."

Instantaneously, his father's eyes seemed to darken, and his mother put a hand on his dad's shoulder and gave him a pleading look, as if trying to quell the argument before it officially started.

"Zander," Edward said, trying to calm himself, "we've talked about this. I thought we had an understanding."

"Our 'understanding' was that I would remain the same! What you obviously don't 'understand' is how hard it is for me to do that. It's like my own personal hell! Every day I'm left envying both of you. I can't even run by myself! Anytime I have to drink blood, I literally feel like gagging—you know, it's kind of awkward that a vampire doesn't like the taste of blood. Oh wait—I'm not a real vampire, am I? Of course, I can't call myself a human, either. Normal humans have friends and don't need to drink blood to survive; I'm pretty sure I don't fit into that category! I guess I'm just some freak hybrid child that has to hang out with his parents all day! My life sucks!"

"Zander," Edward said. His tone and face betrayed that of someone who felt a sudden remorse and pity. "At least you're alive. I know that you're having a hard time right now, but in the long run—"

"Don't," Zander cut in. "Don't even try and pull all that 'soul' stuff on me. I figure that if that's all true, I'll be half damned anyway! You don't have an actual argument!"

"Then I don't have anything to say to you." Edward turned and walked out past his wife. Bella walked over and gently smoothed back Zander's hair. "Honey, don't worry about it right now. Before we had you, your father was just as reluctant to turn me into a vampire."

"Oh yeah? Well, he was kind of forced to change you."

Zander stormed past his mother, leaving her with a stunned look. He'd obviously hurt her, and he deeply regretted that, but right now he needed to find a place where he could calm down.

Zander timidly glanced over the side of the treacherous cliff. Water greedily lapped at the cliff's base, as if wanting to reach up and pull him in. He gulped, took a few steps back and sat down. Being that close to the edge was definitely not safe for him. If he'd taken one wrong step, he would have plummeted into the wake. Even though he was trying to be a stupid, reckless teenager, he wasn't that stupid or reckless; him and water did not get along. Besides, he was already pushing the boundaries of idiocracy—right now he was sitting right on the edges of La Push; that was definitely filling his stupid, reckless teenager quota of the day.

A sudden strong wind pushed a familiar, and almost welcome, scent in his direction.

Raechel.

She stood there, staring nervously and somewhat angrily at him. In return, he smiled brightly and waved. Cautiously, she moved closer to him, but stopped nearly ten feet away. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, folding her arms.

He widened his smile, showing off his teeth, and replied cheerfully, "Oh, I'm just waiting for the next teenage girl to come up so I can give some truth to all of those stories your friend was telling about me. Better run off before I suck you dry."

Her eyes were cold, but her voice quavered slightly. "I'm supposed to tell someone if I see you out here."

"Then you better hurry! I might get you!"

"Don't be such a jackass."

"I thought I was a leech."

"Stop it."

For a moment, the sound of the ocean lapping against the rocks below was all there was to fill the silence between them. "I'm not going to hurt you. And I'm sorry I was such a jackass," Zander apologized, looking back out over the ocean.

Raechel hesitated a moment and then sat next to him. "That's okay. I forgive you, Leech-Boy."

Zander chuckled slightly, and Raechel smiled, finally relaxing. Their hands were nearly touching, and Zander could feel the heat radiating off of her, like she had some kind of fever. For awhile, they sat there contentedly in each other's company, and nothing needed to be said.

Eventually, Raechel got up and moved towards the rim. "Are you sure it's safe for you to be this near the edge?"

Zander eagerly jumped up next to her. "Nope," he replied, edging ever so closer to the drop off. "But I hear it's kind of tough to kill a vampire."

"Oh? I've always heard you just had to rip them to shreds and burn the pieces."

"That's not funny."

"It is if you're a werewolf."

"I'm not a werewolf."

"I believe we've established that."

He smiled at her, glad to have someone to talk to other than his mom and dad. Her face mirrored his, like she knew exactly how he was feeling and experienced it often. Another gust of wind blew, carrying an unfamiliar scent. Raechel's face paled drastically. "Oh no."

"What?" Zander asked, turning into the wind.

"My father."

As quick as she could, she grasped him and pulled. "You have to leave now," she ordered, yanking him mercilessly. Zander walked quickly, in an attempt to keep up with her, but, as so often happens to him when he tries to rush, he overlooked the loose rock under his footing. He never had time to react before his arm was pulled free from hers and he went crashing down into the water below.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, somewhere far, far away…**_

Alice watched in horror as the body plummeted off the cliff and into the waters below. It was the same scene she had observed so many years ago, but this time it wasn't Bella who had fallen off into the ocean. A new picture of Bella came to her mind. She was crying and calling something. "He won't wake up!" The vision faded and Alice was vaguely aware of Jasper holding her arm, but her thoughts were still on the scene. It couldn't have been what she thought it was—that'd be impossible, right? The image of Bella still played vividly in her mind. She looked exactly the same as she had when she and Edward had disappeared.

What had just happened?

"Alice?" Jasper asked, concerned. "What did you see?"

"I think," she said, shaking, "I just saw Edward die."

* * *

How's that for a chappy:) Oh, and by the way, I've realized that my shortest chapter has the most reviews, so if you don't review, I'll make the next chappy shorter, if I make a next chappy at all. Muahahaha… But seriously, please review.

PS I'm updating next Friday morning so don't kill me.

**An update from The Editor Rin:** …Yes. She will be updating next week. ON TIME, I might add (forgive me, forgive me…). But I wished to inform you that Richard just recently emerged from extensive surgery, and he is doing fine—he's in better shape than he was in the first place, I believe. He received massive paper transplants, and he has brand new binding and a shiny silver duck tape spine. Now he shall be INDESTRUCTIBLE!!!! We thank you all for your prayers. –bows- Until next week.


	9. Chapter 6 Special

**Well, the first order of business is to give you Richard's final diagnosis. –ahem- HE LIVES!!! Next order of business, I must explain about this rather different chapter. This chappy is filled with mini fan fictions, or ficlettes, about Zander's **_**unique**_** childhood. The ficlettes come from myself, various friends, even Dragon-Lady Editor Min; we'll start out with two on Friday morning, and hopefully we'll be able to add a new one to this chapter each day subsequently until the next serious chappy update, so remember to check back. But this chappy is important because I will most definitely use references to it in chapters to come. Metaphor and review begging at bottom. :)

* * *

**

_**Chapter 6 ½ **_

**Metal Death Trap** by Dai-san.

Bella made her way down the stairs quietly. The living room was laid out before her in a very Christmas card-esque manner. Edward was seated on the couch in the midst of all of the Christmas wrapping paper that had go be disposed of. Presents mingled awkwardly among the carnage as if trying to escape the clutches of disgruntled gift bags that barred every exit and entrance of the room. But even in the middle of this festive fire hazard, Edward had a very content smile on his face, and Bella soon saw why. Zander was curled up, peacefully sleeping, under their half decorated Christmas tree and clutching stiffly onto his new bike. Soon, Bella was smiling as well, and had joined Edward on the couch. "Looks like he's found his favorite," she whispered, cuddling closer into him. "I'm glad you talked me into it."

"Well," Edward replied, resting his arm on her shoulder, "he deserved something big this year. He's been very good with putting up with us moving around so much. And he was a really big help with the tree."

Both of them smirked at this observation. They'd only moved in a week ago, and had gotten the tree on clearance—but if you put the burnt side to the wall, it looked as good as any other. While Edward and Bella were frantically shopping and moving things in, Zander had taken the liberty of decorating their seven-footer. He had used all of the ornaments to decorate, but, being only seven, he was only able to reach the bottom half. The tree now looked like it was wearing a multicolored skirt and had a star as a broach.

A sudden thought made Bella frown. "Edward?" she asked. "Where are the training wheels?"

"I didn't get any."

"What? Do you think that's smart? Our son's clumsier than _I_ am."

"Look. It's not that hard to ride a bike, and I'll be right there beside him the whole time."

"Well… I guess an overprotective vampire father with super-speed is better than training wheels."

"I am not overprotective."

"Ha! You wouldn't let him play on the swings at the park last week!"

"They were rusty! And besides, there were other people around, so if the chains broke and he went flying head first toward the metal slide, I would have a lot of explaining to do on the subject of how I miraculously caught him when just a second ago I was over by the benches—"

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Their attention turned to their groggy child, who had just awoken. "Yes?" Bella asked, going into Mommy-Mode.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We were talking; now go back to sleep."

"'Kay."

Edward put his lips to Bella's ear. "I guess we'll have to be quieter. Or, we'll just have to go busy ourselves elsewhere."

"Yeah," she whispered, pulling away from him. "We could be the first house on the block to get our Christmas lights down."

"I love the way you think, my love, always so romantic."

"C'mon, lover boy, let's get the ladder."

"…I can't believe you're serious."

"I can't believe you thought I was joking."

With that, both of them departed to await the next day.

- - -

The day was overcast, and, although there was no snow, the air was frigid. Edward stared down at Zander. He was encased in the traditional puffy overcoat and over that were the various pads his mother had welded onto him: knee pads, elbow pads, shin guards, etc. On his face, something that resembled a ski mask was fused to his skin and an oversized helmet completed the ensemble that caused him to look eerily like a multi-colored Michelin Man. A muffled noise emanated from behind the scarf. Edward patted Zander's head and sighed. "I know," he said, and then he repeated, "I know." Zander's eyes gazed up at him helplessly, making him look like he was imprisoned in an iron-maiden, not an outfit assembled by his loving mother.

"Edward," Bella called, while she hovered nervously by the doorway. "Be careful."

Edward took Zander's hand and smiled encouragingly up at her. "Don't worry. We'll have a great time. Right, Zander?"

"Mmmff," the scarf confirmed.

Somewhat reluctantly, Bella went back inside to clean. In less than a second, Edward had stripped Zander down to a new pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and socks. Zander's face was flushed a concerning red color, but he was still strong enough to attach himself to his father's leg. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you Daddy! I thought I was going to bake like one of Mommy's cookies. It was really hot in there," Zander blurted out in one breath. Edward smiled and lifted his son onto the bike. The boy's hands were trembling in excitement, and a large smile showed that all memories of his recent incarceration were forgotten.

"Now," Edward instructed, "when you want to move, you have to push the pedals forward. When you want to stop, push back. I'll say 'brake' and then you have to push back as hard as you can. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now start pedaling."

"You won't let go, right?"

"I won't let go, I promise."

Zander started pedaling, and soon they were flying down the street. Suddenly, a scream disrupted the neighborhood. Edward turned, letting go of the bike. Bella.

Bella poked her head out and glared. "Zander! What is this?" Her hand was clasped around a black rubber looking… thing, but her gaze was suddenly locked on Zander. Edward heard the car alarm before he heard Zander scream.

"Daaaddy!!!"

"Edward!"

Zander had kept pedaling, straight into a parked car, and Bella had seen the whole thing. Edward ran over to Zander, who was chanting, "You said you wouldn't let go. You promised!"

"I'm so sorry. I really am," Edward apologized, while picking him up. Bella appeared behind him and ripped Zander away.

"Get rid of it," she ordered, pointing at the bike. All Edward could do was nod, as Bella cradled their crying son. He carefully pulled the bike away from the dented car and gazed at its bent wheel and broken frame. Stupid metal death trap.

_Fin

* * *

_

**Zombie Fish** by Courtney.

_Courtney's Author Note:_ Hey I'm Dewittles AKA Courtney. I'm not Dai but here it goes.

Zander wanted that goldfish, and by golly he was going to win her. He didn't care that it was raining buckets; he didn't care that it was five dollars for three attempts to land a ping pong ball in the bowl; and he definitely didn't care that he had already spent 50 dollars and never come close.

Zander had already named the fish he wanted—he would call her Winifred. He simply had to have her. Edward, seeing the look of longing on his preschooler's face, only sighed and headed for the nearby ATM machine. Finally, with 200 dollars and a little help from Edward, Zander walked away from the booth with Winifred in tow.

- - -

It had been a week since Winifred had joined the family, and she spent her days swimming around in her aquarium on the bathroom counter. It was not to last, however. One night during one of Zander's infrequent sleeping spells, he was jolted awake by a horrible foreboding in his chest.

Zander crept Zander crept downstairs to check on Winnifred, but he was too late. She was floating belly-up amongst the ½ jar of fish food he had added to sustain her while he slept. Zander's face fell and his eyes welled up with tears.

He knew this day would come; it was the circle of life for most creatures, his parents excluded. He was sad that his friend was gone, but the fair would come again next year, and he could always get another fish. Zander dried his tears as he trudged back to bed.

Several hours later Edward happened by the bathroom and he saw the fish. He sighed and flushed poor Winifred. He wasn't worried about Zander's reaction—he had prepared for this day. After Zander had won the fish, he had ran to the pet store and purchased another aquarium and a plethora of goldfish. Edward and Bella had made an unspoken agreement to protect Zander from any possible unhappiness, and the death of his beloved pet would definitely not do.

When Zander visited the bathroom the next morning he had expected to find Winifred in the same state he had found her last night. Instead he found her swimming around, alive as ever.

Zander was shocked as could be imagined, but then his preschool logic began working. His fish was dead, yes—but her body must be possessed! That wasn't cool, so he decided to put Winifred to rest. The possessed body swirled around two or three times in the toilet bowl before passing on to the "Great Beyond."

Edward soon discovered the missing fish, sighed, and headed for the tank of fish in his closet. Several hours after replacing the Houdini fish he checked to see how Winifred the Third was fairing.

He found Zander in a sorry state sobbing and waving a paper cross over the fish bowl. He rushed towards his surely traumatized child to see the fish swimming happily. He kneeled down and whispered, "What's wrong, little one?"

Zander, attempting to tell through his sobs, explained the past couple days. Thankfully Edward was a quick thinker. "Perhaps we could try one last time to put her out of her misery," he said. So together father and son flushed the last fish—or so they thought.

Bella, seeing that yet another fish had disappeared, decided to help Edward while he was walking. He honestly thought that he was being sneaky, keeping the fish from both her and Zander, after he put the fish in her closet, silly man.

Bella ran to the grocery store to pick up Zander's dinner, and she returned to girlish screaming coming from the bathroom. She ran in, expecting to see somebody with a mortal wound. Instead she found father and son perfectly unharmed, pointing to "Winifred," then screaming again.

_Fin

* * *

_

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the other authors and I enjoyed writing it. I only got three reviews last week—oh, and by the way, that thing that Bella was holding in my fic was how I felt after only getting three reviews last week. So there's your metaphor. Please review and tell me if it made you feel happy, or if it made you feel angry, or if it made you feel like a muffin—**_**I want to know**_**. I promise next week the story will actually advance, and I'll tell you it has something to do with mouth-to-mouth-resesetation. But till then, please keep checking back to this chapter for more ficlets. Until next week… this has been…….. **_**DAI**_


	10. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Sorry I missed last week's deadline, but I hope you can forgive me. If you didn't already know, Dragon-Lady-Editor-Min updates my profile page with current updates, so be sure to check that occasionally. Now onto the rant. AHHH! I went to the bookstore this week to find the special edition of New Moon to read the first chapter of Eclipse with Min. So Min and I sit in the isle of the bookstore, reading it, getting completely engrossed and then the bookstore's phone rings. Not a big deal, right? Oh, yes it was. It just happened to be the longest lasting, most annoying ring in the world. But after about ten minutes it stopped. Then, another phone started ringing. It wasn't even the same one! And then, you won't believe this, the other phone started ringing again, efficiently filling the whole bookstore with annoying noise. AHHHH! All Edward fans can understand why we were so angry, right? AHHH! Well, now that that's over, onto the story. Metaphor at bottom.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The freezing water shot sharp sparks of pain through every nerve in his body. Swiftly pulsing water engulfed him instantaneously and threw him mercilessly against jagged rocks around the bottom of the cliff, but Zander couldn't feel it anymore. Numbness had enveloped his whole body and as he tried to find the surface it began seeping into his mind. Soon, the length of time he had been under, what direction he was facing, how much air he had left, became useless information as he sank further into the water. "I wonder what'll happen to me," he thought as he finally took a deep breath of water and closed his eyes.

He had no more strength to struggle against the waves and no mind power to worry about it, but he still had enough strength to worry. As the world grew darker, deciding if he was still alive or if he had already passed became consequentially harder. After a minute, he had passed into a state of modified unconsciousness. There was no pain—no feeling at all, really—and it was dark, but he was still thinking. Memories of his parents and his childhood filled his mind: his goldfish, his first (and only) bike ride, and other miscellaneous and unimportant events flashed by. "I wonder if this is what they meant when they said something about one's life flashing before their eyes. Oh, well." And then he began to finally slip away.

* * *

Bella was hovering nervously by the door. Zander had never done this before, no matter how angry he was. It had been nearly four hours since he'd stormed out. But the time wasn't what worried her—it was the thought of what he would do in the four hours.

Edward sat on the couch with his head in his hands. He'd already searched the town six times, but had so far come up empty handed. No one really wanted to think about what that could mean—but it was pretty obvious where Zander had gone.

A frantic knock sent both Edward and Bella shooting to the door. In desperation, Edward nearly ripped the door off its hinges and Bella almost went head first into… Alice?

* * *

Alice eagerly wrapped her arms around Edward and Bella while Jasper gaped at Bella and her obvious… change. After Alice had finished her hug, she stepped back and turned to Edward with a relieved smile. "You're alright," she observed happily. All Edward gave as a reply was a shocked nod. "And you," said Alice as she turned to Bella, "have joined the club. And, by the look of it, you joined quite awhile ago." This time it was Bella who initiated the excited hug.

"What are you doing here?" Bella gasped.

"Well you weren't coming to me, so I came to you. You're not upset, are you? Because you look kind of disappointed."

"Oh no! I'm elated that you're here! But how did you know where we were?"

"Alice had a vision," Jasper cut in as he stepped through the threshold, giving Edward a curious look.

"What was the vision?" Edward asked as he returned to look. He could already tell Alice had hidden it from him.

"Does it really matter?" Alice sighed as she set her gaze on Edward. "Besides, you two are the ones that should be explaining. Where have you been?"

"It's complicated."

"Well, I'm pretty used to complicated."

"Not this kind, but I'm sure you'll find out."

"Can't we just be happy we're together right now?" Bella interjected. But, even as she said it, her eyes drifted towards the door. Alice followed her gaze and then looked back.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"No," Bella snapped as she put back on a fake smile. The sudden change in mood caught Jasper's attention, but other than a worried smile, he did nothing.

"Okay…" Alice said as she looked worriedly at Jasper, who was now looking around at the half opened moving boxes.

"Sorry," Bella apologized, trying to quickly clean up, but Jasper wasn't paying attention. He had stopped over one of the boxes and seemed unable to move again. Alice was soon next to him trying to see what was hidden there, but Jasper was blocking it.

"Is that him, Alice?" he asked using a tone that was undecipherable. Alice gently moved him away and looked at the picture in the box. What she saw made her gasp. The boy she had seen go over the cliff smiled back at her. And it was definitely not Edward.

* * *

Sam pushed past his still babbling daughter; he had heard all he needed, but he still didn't know why he was doing this. He had come upon Raechel about to jump into the water. It had only taken him a second to figure out what she was screaming at him, but he didn't know if he could save the "kind-of-not-really-vampire-boy-that-looked-like-Edward-Cullen-but-whose-real-name-was-Zander-and-he-probably-didn't-know-how-to-swim boy."

Or something like that. He couldn't really understand her, but Jacob had also told him about this kid, so Sam knew he had to exist. But it came back to why he was jumping after him. Jacob had told him that the kid was dangerous, but the thought of the kid's death brought his daughter to tears. And he couldn't let that happen.

The water was freezing, but Sam just ignored it and searched for the kid. It wasn't long before he had a hold of the kid and was dragging him up. But even before he reached the surface, he could tell the heartbeat was weak. "Come on, kid," he ordered as he pulled the kid on a nearby beach outlet. Unsure of how to revive a vampire, he did what he would do to anyone, and began pushing down on his chest.

When Raechel came down, Sam was breathing into the kid's mouth, trying to get him to breathe, like he had done the last ten times; but this time was different. The kid started coughing. After he cleared his lungs, he seemed to lapse back into a restful unconsciousness.

"Raechel," Sam said. "He's fine, but I think that we should bring him back with us. I have a few questions for him."

* * *

It was warm all of a sudden. Zander, reluctant to open his eyes, spread his hands out and felt the crochet blanket that surrounded him. As he moved his arm out further, his hand brushed against someone's fingers. "Raechel?" he muttered, opening his eyes.

"I'm afraid you're not that lucky." An unfamiliar man looked down at him, and Zander quickly pulled his hand away.

"Zander?" Raechel laughed on the other side of him. Zander was about to reply, but the man was already speaking.

"So what are you?" the man asked bluntly. "I sat here for the last hour watching your wounds disappear, so you'd better explain that and why you were with my daughter."

Zander paled slightly, looked at Raechel, and sighed. He really didn't have a choice, did he?

"Well," he began, settling down, "I don't really know what I am. I mean, I know I'm part vampire, but I'm also human. Yeah, I know, weird. I'm not quite sure how it happened, so don't ask, but I obviously exist. I have to drink blood occasionally, but I think it's pretty disgusting. And I also eat real food (like McDonald's). I bleed, but I can heal myself. I can cry, but I normally don't. I also have a heart beat, and I have to breathe, but my parents don't have to. I even have to sleep sometimes. So, basically, I'm a walking contradiction."

"Sounds rough."

Pity was the last thing Zander expected from a werewolf, but it wasn't unwelcome.

"Yeah," Zander replied, looking down. "And to answer your other question, I came here to tick off my parents. Meeting your daughter was just an added bonus." Raechel blushed, but she tried to hide it.

"So," she asked, standing up, "what happens now?"

"Whatever happens," Zander grumbled, "my dad's going to be pissed."

* * *

**End note:**

So there's a little insight about Zander in this chappy. Metaphor's about me this week (even though it's kinda a simile…).

Ahem.

I am as bad a procrastinator as the people in scary movies that sit there screaming while the zombie meanders up to them and then they try to run at the last second, but the zombie eats their brain anyway. Please don't eat my brain, I need it. I'm sorry about last week, so please forgive me. I love you all. DAI.


	11. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Hey! I was looking at my reviews and it turns out that I'm getting close to the big 100! I'm kind of thinking of doing some sort of sweepstakes or something that involves the 100th reviewer (unless, of course, the 100th review is a lame; in that case it will be lucky 101!!!!). But all of this is strictly in the think tank still, but I'm open to ideas! I'll maybe even put the 100th (or 101st reviewer as the case may be) in the story for a guest appearance. Who knows? I've still got some time left. In other news, I'm getting a lot more reviews lately, and it makes me smile. :) See, a smile. Please keep it up! I love knowing you are out there and I love to hear that some of you like it. Thank you for all your support so far and, hopefully, in the future.

PS I'm brainstorming for future chapters and, as a little foreshadowing, one chapter involves a ceramic duck, and you don't want to miss that!

PPS On to the story! (Superman music)

* * *

Raechel stared at Zander's sleeping form and shifted nervously. Her father was pacing outside the door, and had been ever since Zander had fallen asleep again. Across the hall, Jacob, who had only arrived a few seconds prior, was leaned nonchalantly against the wall, but Raechel could tell that he was extremely alert. Although he seemed to be staring out the window at the end of the hall, every movement bade by Zander caught his immediate attention and caused him to go tense. Shifting again, Raechel looked back at Zander and sighed heavily. Who would ever think that this guy she met in the woods would create such a problem?

Someone laid their hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and nearly knock over her chair, but the person caught it for her. "Did I scare you?" Raechel gaped at Jacob, who had apparently moved stealthily across the room to her side. "Sorry," he said, smiling openly, "I just wanted to check on you." A blush moved across Raechel's face like a wave of fire—not burning her, but torturing her with the knowledge that it was there and noticeable.

"Okay," she stuttered, unable to say anything more.

"Are you really?"

"Am I what?"

"Okay."

Jacob's gaze had shifted to Zander for a split second and Raechel realized how strained his smile was. He was worried for her, that was true; but the threat he saw was Zander, not the stress of the situation. Crestfallen and slightly angry, she returned his fake smile with one of her own and replied with an unbelievably cheery voice, "Yeah, I'm fine! As a matter of fact, I'm more than fine. I'm estatic!"

Jacob furrowed his brow in a response to the unexpected sarcasm, and dropped his smile. "That's… good."

"Did you need anything else?"

Jacob's façade dropped all at once and gave way to a grim shell of his former features. "Actually," he started, "I have a… a mission for you." Ignoring the cheesy James Bond cliché, the statement caught her attention. But before she was able to question him, he started talking again. "Raechel, I want you to think about this before you answer. Before this new… development, your father and I were talking about how to supervise the vampires without too much risk. And your name came up. Obviously, the bloodsucker feels comfortable around you, and he might actually confide in you some. One of the ideas we had was to send you to Forks for awhile. Now, it wouldn't be for long, and we would enroll you in the high school, but it would also be a good chance for you to monitor them."

"You mean spy on them."

"In a sense. But Raechel, isn't this what you've always wanted? Acknowledgement as one of the pack? This is probably the most important job right now, and it would not only prove to your dad that you're not just a little girl anymore—you could prove to everyone that you're not a child. So what do you say?"

Raechel stared into Jacob's dark brown needy eyes. What he said, although it was a harsh slap in the face to her, he was right. That was really all she wanted, and she couldn't really refuse the offer. Zander shifted in his sleep, but it seemed to Raechel that he was subconsciously disapproving the planning of his betrayal. "Well?" Jacob whispered, eyeing Zander nervously.

Raechel was quiet, but, after a moment, she lifted her head and stared at Jacob sternly. "I'll do it."

* * *

Edward walked over to the stunned Alice, dreading what Alice had pulled out of the box. If Alice had found a picture of Zander, they were in a lot of trouble. Alice turned towards him with a horrified look, transfixed on the picture hanging from her fingertips. "Who… who is this?" she asked with wide eyes. Jasper was hanging back stiffly, studying Edward with curious eyes. Bella, who had been stationary until then, reached over and took the picture. She hung her head, sweeping her eyes against Zander's portrait and sighed.

"Alice, I…"

"No time for anything more than what I've already asked for. Unless, of course, you could tell me where he is."

"Why?"

"How do I put this? Well, I kind of saw this boy fall off a cliff and I think that classifies as an emergency."

Her voice was rushed and panicked, but to Bella, everything was slowed down. Her knees shook precariously, nearly sending her crashing into Alice, but Edward caught her. "What do you mean, you saw him fall off a cliff?" Edward asked in a shocked, numbed tone.

"I meant what I said, Edward. Now do you have an answer?"

Before Alice could get an answer, Edward was rushing out the door. "Edward!" Alice called frantically. "You don't know which cliff!" But Edward was already running. He had to save his boy.

* * *

The truck rumbled uncertainly down the road, as if it was having a terrible time carting Zander, Raechel, and Sam down the road to forks. An uncomfortable silence had frozen over them and no matter how high they cranked up the heat on the wheezy interior, nothing could melt their frosted figures. Zander glanced at Sam, whose eyes were firmly transfixed on the road, and at Raechel, whose eyes were firmly transfixed on anything but him. Hail pelted the windows, and Zander, in an attempt to be transfixed on something other than his uncomfortable spot between the two cubes of ice, tried to count the balls of hail that nearly cracked the window shield that were obviously happier committing their suicides than he was sitting between the girl that was avoiding him for no apparent reason and said girl's father.

In an instant, the whole car was rocked viciously as Sam slammed on the break. Zander's head snapped up and his eyes were immediately glued to the man who appeared most abruptly in front of the car, and soon so were everyone else's. The man stepped to the passenger side window and Raechel was put face-to-face with Zander's father.

No one moved until Edward tapped the window and pointed at Zander. Raechel mindlessly opened the door into the pelting hail and Zander awkwardly half-crawled over Raechel and to his father. The door closed swiftly behind him and he barely had time to wave at Raechel before the car sped off. He gazed after the car with a confused cock of the head before he felt his father wrap a coat around him and move him into the shelter of nearby trees.

The trees filtered much of the falling debris, but the frigid air caused Zander to shiver and Edward to worry. "So," Edward asked, wrapping the coat tighter around his son, "what's this I hear about you falling off a cliff?"

Zander smirked in spite of the cold. "Yeah, you know me. Always looking to outdo my last heroic stunt. But how'd you know?"

"Does it matter? I just want to know if you're okay. By the way, are you okay?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm fine. I just nearly drowned, that's all."

"You almost drowned?!?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, it was either that, or my lungs were filling up with water. It was kind of hard to tell."

"That's… odd."

"Drowning?"

"No, not drowning in general. You drowning."

"Why?"

"Well, you didn't have to breathe when you were born."

* * *

**A/N:** Ooooooh… a mystery. Well, I hope you appreciate this chapter, because I completely ignored my_ Great Expectations_ reading for you guys. Oh well. Cheap metaphor this week, I'm tired.

You are the red kryptonite that makes Superman do bad things, but makes him happy while doing them. Well, there you go. I'll update next week, hopefully, if I don't die from all my final exams. Here's hoping! Please review—DAI.


	12. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Are you there? I… I know it's been awhile since, well, I updated. But I hope you can forgive me once again. I'm definitely not perfect, and Min has constantly reminded me of my overlooked responsibilities, I assure you. I've just been putting off for a great number of reasons, the latest of which has been six hours of PE I've taken up over the summer, which has left me more in the mood for sleeping than writing. Please forgive me; I promise good things are coming if you do.

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Alice and Jasper's reflections partially blocked Bella's view out the window. Jasper's nearly transparent figure impatiently paced from one side of the window frame to the other in rhythmic certainty while the ghost-like Alice remained stationary on the far right. It remained like this for another five minutes, broken then only by the phone ringing. Bella shot across to the phone and answered it before it finished the first ring. "Hello?" she answered breathlessly.

"Bella. I've got him." A warm, tingling sensation spread through Bella as she heard Edward's voice. But, as soon as she relaxed, she tensed up again as questions and concerns came spilling out of her.

"Is he alright? Where was he? Where are you now? When will you be home?" she blurted, squeezing the phone dangerously.

"Are Alice and Jasper still there?" Edward asked calmly. Bella was instantly bewildered. That was definitely not a satisfactory answer, but Edward was already speaking. "Try and get them to leave if you can. I don't think Zander's quite ready to meet them right now. We'll come in after they leave." With that Edward abruptly hung up, leaving Bella with a dead line.

Bella turned and looked at Alice and Jasper, who had abandoned their previous positions and were now poised behind her with curious looks on their faces. "I'm sorry…" Bella began, but Alice just shook her head with a knowing smile.

"We heard him," she answered with a slightly bitter tone.

"I really am sorry, but…" Bella struggled, "…things are a little rocky right now. Even I'm not completely sure what's going on."

"Of course," Alice said as she danced toward the door with Jasper in tow. "But you can't keep us on the outside forever. We _are_ family."

Bella watched them both disappear into the snow and she relaxed a little. Almost immediately, another knock came at the door. She ran forward and ripped it open, embracing her half frozen son on the doorstep. Zander barely had time to complain about the hug before the cold forced him inside, leaving his mother and father on the step. Edward smiled warmly, but Bella was still slightly upset at him and did not return it.

"Bella," Edward said calmly, "I'm sorry about the vagueness, but I wanted to wait until we got home before I got into any details."

"Is he okay?" Bella demanded, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Yes—well, a little surlier than normal, but fine otherwise."

"What about the cliff?"

"Our child's remarkably resilient."

"What?!"

"He did fall off the cliff, but Sam Uley saved him."

"Sam Uley? The—"

"Yes, the werewolf; and also the father of that girl Zander has recently been found in the company of."

"Oh no."

"Hey Dad! Why don't you tell her about how much of a freak I am while you've got a chance? As if things aren't screwed up enough," Zander yelled resentfully from the kitchen doorway, brandishing a freshly made peanut butter and jelly sandwich as if it could bear testimony to his 'freakishness.' Edward shot Zander a warning look, but Bella could tell that there was a lot of sympathy in his gaze.

"What is he talking about, Edward?" Bella asked, concern flooding back over her as she stared at Zander.

"Well, it might be nothing. I'm not su—"

"Nothing?" Zander yelled. "Of course to you it's nothing! You'd love for me to waste away into normalness…"

"Zander!" Edward shot back forcefully. "Go upstairs." Zander locked eyes with his father for the briefest second before he sulked out of the room, leaving his sandwich lying disheveled on the floor where he'd dropped it. Edward moved past Bella into the house where he stood stiffly looking at his feet before he turned to Bella again. Shocked at the sudden upheaval of things, Bella could only stare.

"Zander almost drowned," said Edward bluntly.

"He almost drowned? Is he…?"

"He shouldn't be able to."

"Shouldn't be able to what?"

"Drown."

"Well," Bella started, "he isn't full vampire. Why shouldn't he—?"

Edward stopped her quickly. "He didn't even need to breathe when he was born."

Bella became stiff; she had forgotten that. As she was still at a loss for what to say, Edward continued. "That's the complication. We talked about it for a while and I came up with a conclusion that didn't exactly conform to what Zander wanted to hear. I merely suggested that maybe, since he's going through puberty and all, meaning his living, human cells are in overdrive, that maybe the living cells are causing more of his human characteristics to be represented. Well, he did not like that at all, of course, and he got rather upset with me. Now he's under the impression that I somehow planned all of this, to make him human, which is completely ridiculous."

"Well, it's not a secret that you're against him becoming a full vampire."

"Bella, please."

"I know he's being rash, but he's probably scared and looking for a scapegoat right now, and you happened to be the closest living thing."

"There was a deer that wasn't too far off."

"Edward, go talk to him."

"I don't think that that's the best idea. He's pretty angry at me right now. He feels like he's vulnerable and thus lashing out at everything, especially me."

"Fine, I'll talk to him. But you should really come, too."

"I will in awhile. After he's calmed down."

"Alright."

Bella moved up the stairs to Zander's room, which now seemed to have an aura of anger around it. Knocking on the door, Bella waited for an answer, which never came. She pushed through the door tentatively to see Zander curled up on the bed, glowering at an unfortunate fly on the wall that seemed to whither under such an intense glare. Bella slid on the bed and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I don't know," she finally sighed.

"What?" Zander asked, obviously bewildered.

"I don't know how you feel right now."

"Yeah," Zander replied uncertainly, after having his best argument thrown back at him.

"Although I do know how annoyingly stubborn your father can be."

"Oh, do you?"

"You have no idea how hard it was to convince him to change me. Mortality's very important to him."

"I don't see what's so great about it."

"Well, you've never had to face it fully, now, did you?"

"…I guess not."

"But that's beside the point. I want to make you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"A deal that'll allow you to get out of the house and away from your father for seven hours a day at least."

"Sounds good so far."

"You'll also get to interact with others that absolutely despise their parents."

"Therapy?"

"High school."

Bella could tell Zander was about to protest, but something stopped him. Opposing thoughts were obviously battling viciously in his mind. One of the most appealing things about school would be that it would spite his father, Bella thought, but it would also show that Zander found mingling with other people tempting, which would contradict much of what he said earlier. Bella watched as Zander struggled with the decision, and tried to keep her face as noncomplacent as possible.

A creak from the hall betrayed Edward's early arrival, but it also renewed Zander's vigor to annoy his father as much as possible. "Fine," he spat out angrily, "but this bites."

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**A/N:** There's a nice chapter. A little too much dialogue, but there was a lot that needs to be said. Well, who else is excited about Harry Potter? I think the world might just end right before I read the end. Everyone wants to spite me. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid, but it's HARRY POTTER! In honor of Harry Potter, the metaphor (actually a simile in disguise) will be Harry Potter-inspired. –ahem- Getting reviews is just as good as reading a chapter of the new book. That's how much you all mean to me. So please review. Please… pretty please with Harry Potter 7 on top. Well, I hope to hear from you soon—DAI 


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